The Origin of Scrabble

Scrabble is one of the most addictively popular word games in the world. I have so many fond memories of playing Scrabble with my grandmother. She always cheated, but that’s beside the point. Recently, I have been playing an online version with my friends and family on FaceBook. Playing this game so much made me wonder how it all started, and what made this game so popular.

The Game of Scrabble was invented in 1939, by an out of work architect named Alfred Botts. Botts had thought that creating a successful word game would allow him to provide for his family. So he set to work creating his word game, which was originally named “Criss-Cross.” When he brought his hand-made game before toy companies, they insisted that the game would never be a success because they deemed it too intellectual.

In 1948, Alfred Botts and a close friend decided to manufacture the game themselves, under a new name, Scrabble. They set up shop in an old schoolhouse, and were barely able to make a living from their sales. Out of nowhere, in the summer of 1952, Scrabble suddenly became a fad. Botts and his friend’s sales increased from less than ten thousand games a year, to over four million. Since then Scrabble has become the second best selling game in history.

Whatever started the Scrabble fad in 1952 is still unknown, but Scrabble may never have become so popular without it. Scrabble encourages people to exercise their creativity, expand their vocabulary, and have fun while doing it! Next time you sit down to play a game of Scrabble, remember that if it wasn’t for a sudden fad in 1952, you might be playing something else, something a little less intellectual.